Department for Transport

Railways: Overcrowding

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to alleviate passenger overcrowding on trains.

Claire Perry: Increased capacity is being delivered through our record investment in the railway and programmes such as Intercity Express, Crossrail and Thameslink which add more, longer and newer trains to the railway network which will help in reducing overcrowding. The franchising system is also delivering capacity increases across the country, including 150 new carriages on South West Trains and 68 new carriages on c2c.　 The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises will deliver an increase in peak capacity into the major northern cities by more than a third.   In addition, operators such as First Great Western are taking steps to reduce overcrowding by removing　some first class carriages and installing additional standard seats. With record passenger numbers across the country we expect operators to keep putting forward innovative proposals to reduce overcrowding.

Railways: Tickets

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Oyster ticketing system is planned to be extended to Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley and Ifield railway stations.

Claire Perry: I remain absolutely committed to the introduction of Oyster Pay-As-You-Go from the current Oyster boundary to Gatwick Airport.   I am in continued discussions with the Mayor of London, and officials from the Department, TfL and the operator are working hard to make it a reality. I will be announcing the timetable for the implementation of these changes shortly.   Oyster Pay As You Go can be a real benefit to rail customers and we want to ensure that such benefits reach as many people as possible, which is why we included the commitment in the franchise.

SS Richard Montgomery

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to monitor the condition and safety of the SS Richard Montgomery; and when he plans to publicise the results of such monitoring.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) carries out regular surveys of the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery. These are generally multibeam sonar surveys and, in recent years, they have also included laser scanning of those parts of the wreck’s structure which are visible above the waterline. Survey reports, and background information about the wreck, are published at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ss-richard-montgomery-information-and-survey-reportsIn addition, Medway Port Authority guards the wreck under contract to the MCA. The Authority provides: 24 hour surveillance of the wreck, both visually and by radar; patrols of the area around the wreck; and an initial response to any potential incursions.

Shipping: Registration

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the appointment of a new head of the UK Shipping Register; and whether there is a deadline by which that vacancy must be filled.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I fully support the decision to recruit a new Director of the United Kingdom Ship Register within the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Creating this position is an immediate and positive response to a recommendation in Lord Mountevans’ Maritime Growth Study Report published on 7 September 2015 at the start of London International Shipping Week. The appointment will be made as soon as possible on the basis of an open and fair competition for this Senior Civil Service role. There is no deadline by which that appointment must be made.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme to be launched; and how he plans to publicise that programme using his Department's website.

Mr Robert Goodwill: A Business Case with a future operating model for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s ship survey and inspection operation will be considered soon by the Department for Transport and subsequently by HM Treasury.   Consultation will follow and the Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme (SITP) proposals and plans will be published through GOV.UK in due course.

Shipping: Crew

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is taking to ensure that members of the Red Ensign Group comply with the safe manning levels recommended by that agency.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carry out a maximum four year cycle of audits of the Overseas Territory (OT)/Crown Dependency (CD) Administrations, the scope of which is covered in the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the UK Government and the individual Government of the OTs and CDs for the operation of their British shipping register. The MOU contains an obligation to ensure that all vessels registered, that are subject to safe manning criteria, are properly crewed and certificated to International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) standards.   The MCA surveyors also carry out targeted inspections of Red Ensign Group (REG) ships visiting UK ports under the Merchant Shipping Act. If examples of a failure to comply are identified, the MCA has at its disposal the same control measures as for Port State Control, i.e. detention, prohibition notices, improvement notices and defect rectification. Findings of these inspections are fed back to the MCA to follow-up with the relevant REG administration.

Shipping: Crew

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what arrangements are in place for determining safe manning levels on UK merchant ships for each (a) classification of ship, (b) trade route and (c) type of cargo.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There are no prescriptive regulations requiring certain numbers of crew for ship types, trade routes or types of cargo. The arrangements we have in place are explained in full in Merchant Shipping Notice (MSN) 1868.  Vessels of more than 500 GT are required to hold a Safe Manning Document.

Shipping: Crew

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will amend legislation on minimum safe manning levels on merchant ships to require the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to consult maritime trade unions when a shipowner applies for a change to a vessel's safe manning certificate.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There are no plans to amend legislation on minimum safe manning levels on merchant ships to require the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to consult maritime trade unions when a shipowner applies for a change to a vessel’s safe manning document.   However, under the current regulations MSN 1868 Section 6 ‘Consultation and Schedule’ requires owners to:   ‘…. consult with the Master, seafarers, seafarers’ representatives (where applicable) and the MCA on their proposed manning levels and draw up a schedule [of manning] accordingly…. If agreement cannot be reached ….the MCA will consider the views put forward and if necessary require the schedule to be revised. Where disagreement occurs it may be necessary to arrange a practical demonstration of the crew’s ability to carry out the essential tasks in the context of the principles of safe manning.’

Department for Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for his Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Mr Mark Francois: The attached table lists the policy evaluations carried out by DCLG since 2010-11.



Evaluation Projects in DCLG  - 2010-2015
(PDF Document, 315.15 KB)

Economic Growth

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the Government has (a) allocated to promote growth in the English regions and (b) paid out to local projects since 2010.

James Wharton: Promoting economic growth throughout the UK, including the English regions is a high priority for the Government which is reflected in initiatives like the Northern Powerhouse, City Deals and the Local Growth Fund. Since 2010 the Government has invested in a range of programmes to support economic growth including: skills and apprenticeships; infrastructure including transport, broadband and housing; business support, research and innovation.The Government has invested £2.9 billion through the Regional Growth Fund and £730 million through the Growing Places Fund and has allocated £7.7 billion through the Local Growth Fund. This is all in addition to wider central and local government spending in the English regions on skills, transport and business support.The Government has established Local Enterprise Partnerships to manage and coordinate growth programmes in places and devolved funding and power through City Deals, Growth Deals and Devolution Deals, so that local areas can take greater control of delivering economic growth.

Planning Permission

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether any mechanism is in place for communities to prevent previously refused planning applications being repeatedly re-submitted in a slightly different form.

Brandon Lewis: Local planning authorities have powers to decline applications if they have previously refused permission for two or more substantially similar applications on the same site, or if a substantially similar application has been rejected by the Secretary of State on appeal or following call-in, within the past two years. These powers are set out in Sections 70A and 70B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended).

Small Businesses: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on how many small and medium enterprises in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West have received funding from the North West Fund.

James Wharton: The North West fund has invested the following:a) 3 small and medium enterprises in Pendle constituency have recieved £1.26 million investment to date.b) 43 small and medium enterprises in Lancashire have received £20.06 million investment to date.c) 386 small and medium enterprises in the North West have recieved £124.34 million investment to date.

Small Businesses: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to (a) raise awareness of and (b) encourage  small and medium enterprises in the North West to access funding from the North West Fund.

James Wharton: The North West Fund has wound down the level of marketing and promotion of the Fund due to the limited amount of funding remaining for the rest of the North West (excluding Merseyside) under the current European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 programme.DCLG are currently working with the North West Local Enterprise Partnerships to agree the establishment of a new fund providing access to finance for small and medium enterprises under the 2014-20 programme. Once established the new North West fund will be promoted to small and medium enterprises and closely aligned with the local growth hubs providing business support.

Local Government: Pay

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the public sector pay freeze on the recruitment and retention of staff by local authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones: Every part of the public sector has played a role in helping to lower the deficit. Councils, as independent employers, take local decisions about pay and consider how these decisions impact on their workforces. At the Budget, the my rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) announced the introduction of a new National Living Wage of over £9 by 2020. The National Living Wage is expected to benefit around 6 million low paid people across the country.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Turkey: Politics and Government

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Turkish government on protecting (a) the democratic process and (b) minorities.

Mr David Lidington: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials have regular discussions with Turkish counterparts covering a wide range of issues. On 14 August 2015, I met Volkan Bozkır, the then Turkish Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, in my constituency. We discussed the political and security situation in Turkey and the region, including Turkey’s recent general elections, PKK terrorism and the Kurdish peace process. I also released a statement on 9 September condemning PKK terrorist attacks and calling for calm in Turkey.

Kashmir: Politics and Government

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political and security situation in Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: We follow developments in Kashmir closely. Officials from our High Commissions in Delhi and Islamabad regularly discuss the situation in Kashmir with the governments of both India and Pakistan, and travel to the region periodically to see the situation on the ground for themselves.The long standing position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator. We encourage both sides to maintain positive dialogue, but the pace and scope of this is for them to determine.

New Zealand: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his New Zealand counterpart on the upcoming referendum on that country's national flag.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has not had any discussions with his New Zealand counterpart on this matter. The decision to hold a referendum is a matter for the New Zealand people.

North Korea: Human Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) UN and (b) South Korean government on human right abuses in North Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire: We regularly discuss the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) appalling human rights record with close allies and partners. In August, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met the Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister, Yun Byung-se, in Seoul for a wide-ranging dialogue. This included discussion of how the UK and the Republic of Korea could work together to improve the DPRK’s human rights record. In September, I travelled to the UN in Geneva. During this visit, I met the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad, and raised the human rights situation in the DPRK. While in Geneva, I also addressed the UN Human Rights Council, where I set out the Government’s particular concerns in the DPRK.

Attorney General

National Fund

Mr Nick Hurd: To ask the Attorney General, what progress he has made on discussions about the future of the National Debt Fund charity; and what steps he is taking to secure legal approval to change the charitable objects of that charity and remove the requirement on it to pay off the whole national debt.

Mr Nick Hurd: To ask the Attorney General, whether it is his policy to facilitate the transfer of funds of the National Debt Fund Charity to the Treasury in a manner that is consistent with the charitable objectives of the National Debt Fund.

Jeremy Wright: Options are being considered for the future of the Fund, consistent with its object of extinguishing or reducing the national debt. A proposal will be set out in due course.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for his Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish the report commissioned by his Department from McKinsey on the executive agencies and bodies funded by his Department; and what other external reports he has commissioned on such agencies and bodies since May 2010.

Joseph Johnson: The Department will not be publishing the McKinsey work on the grounds that to do so would be likely to reduce the Government’s ability to protect the policy-making process and maintain the delivery of effective Government.The Department does not hold centrally a record of all external reports, or policy evaluations, that have been carried out by external organisations for the Department and its Agencies. To produce such a list dating back to May 2010/ financial year 2010-11 respectively would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Joseph Johnson: The core Department for Business Innovation and Skills spent the following on carbon offsetting in the last 3 years:F/Y 09-10 EDF Trading Ltd - £90063F/Y 10-11 RWE Supply & Trade in Switzerland SA - £31496.33F/Y 11-12 South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd - £2902.72

Higher Education: Part-time Education

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support students in part-time higher education.

Joseph Johnson: This Government made available for the first time, non means tested loans to cover part time tuition fees. We have also extended student support for people who already have a degree to study for another in engineering, technology and computer science. We are also investing in higher level and degree apprenticeships - apprenticeships offer people an alternative to university as a path into skilled employment.

Higher Education: Part-time Education

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the reasons for changes in the number of students enrolling in part-time higher education courses in the last five years.

Joseph Johnson: An assessment of trends in entry to part-time higher education courses at different types of Higher Education provider was included in the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s report “Higher education in England 2014: Analysis of latest shifts and trends”. The report is available at:http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/heinengland/2014report/HEinEngland_2014.pdf

Vocational Guidance: Minority Groups

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of treating ethnic minority groups as a priority by the National Careers Service.

Nick Boles: The National Careers Service provides careers information, advice and guidance to anyone aged 13 and over via their website and telephone service. Face-to-face guidance for adults aged 19 and over is also provided (aged 18 if individuals are in custody or customers of Jobcentre Plus). The Skills Funding Agency carried out an impact assessment on the current priority groups in 2012. These priority groups include adults who are unemployed, people with disabilities, adults facing redundancy or newly redundant, individuals distant from the labour market, in custody or have low skills. We believe that these groups are sufficient to provide a high quality service to all customers, including those from ethnic minorities groups, and that there is no need for further assessment. Between October 2014 and June 2015, around 24% of National Careers Service customers were from an ethnic minority background.

Members: Correspondence

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Members for Ashfield and Streatham dated 15 June 2015 regarding women executives on company boards.

Nick Boles: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has replied to the hon Members.

EU Grants and Loans

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many consortia (a) containing and (b) not containing UK businesses have (i) made bids for and (ii) been successful in securing funding under the Eureka Eurostars programme in each financial year since 2010-11.

Joseph Johnson: UK business engagement with the Eurostars programme in financial years 2010 – 2011 to 2014 - 2015.  FY 2010-2011(1)FY 2011-2012FY 2012-2013FY2013-2014FY 2014-2015All Applications745728354594655Applications with UK Partners (a)1421225097108Applications without UK Partners (b)603606304497547All Funded Projects14513967103160Funded Projects with UK Partners (a)2226102430Funded projects without UK Partners (b)1231135779130Number of calls22112Notes:increases in the proportion of a project supported from 2010 mean that comparisons with earlier participant numbers would not be comparing like with like.

Innovate UK

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much public funding was spent by Innovate UK (a) in total and (b) under each of its programmes in each financial year since 2010-11; and what proportion of that spending was on research and development in each such year.

Joseph Johnson: Innovate UK’s total expenditure by financial year and under each of its programmes since 2010/11 is: Programme  2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15   £'000£'000£'000£'000£'000Thematic (incl Collaborative R&D259,486124,824132,449186,312181,029Catalysts & Launchpads) Micro/Nanotech Centres3342,009887598919Knowledge Transfer Networks18,13517,40914,40616,16611,288Knowledge Transfer Partnerships30,45616,33817,26914,02312,345EU programmes 4,0652,691-8281945,660Legacy  26----Small Business Research Initiative1,6472,8243,2645,8894,957Innovation Research Centres50----European Space Agency 50,678----Grant for R&D/Smart -20,27732,98242,37048,166Catapult Centres -42,41385,449153,271135,528Non-core projects[i] -33,85263,493104,750136,104Innovation Vouchers --4872,2112,034Total Programme 364,877262,637349,858525,784538,030Total Expenditure 396,275299,856397,664576,392597,478  Funding under all the above programmes was provided in support of business-led innovation and R&D.[i] These are programmes for which Innovate UK is the delivery partner for Government, for which specific additional funding is provided, but which fall outside Innovate UK’s core innovation programme budget, e.g. Aerospace Technology Institute.

Members: Correspondence

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Ashfield the Shadow Business Secretary on women executives on company boards dated 15 June 2015.

Nick Boles: There is no record of this letter having been received by my Department. If the hon. Member will forward a copy I shall ensure it is actioned as a matter of urgency.

Industrial Training Boards

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to publish the Government response to the Industry Training Boards review, announced on 23 September 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: The Triennial Review of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and Film Industry Training Board (FITB) took place under the Coalition Government. However it was not possible to publish the report before the May 2015 general election. In the Budget on 8 July 2015, the new Government announced that it will introduce a levy on large UK employers to fund post-16 apprenticeships. The Government is now consulting on how the levy should be implemented, including its interaction with the existing sector levies. “Given these skills funding policy changes, there have been delays in publication as we consider how the sector levies interact with the apprenticeship levy.”

Trade Agreements: Employment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Trade in Services Agreement on employment levels in the UK (a) economy and (b) transport industry.

Anna Soubry: It is not possible at this stage in the negotiation for the Government to assess the precise impact the TiSA will have on employment levels in the UK economy, but we estimate the agreement has the potential to provide a £2-3 billion increase to the UK’s annual GDP with associated employment gains.

Trade Agreements: Transport

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he made of the potential effect of the Trade in Services Agreement on the transport industry; and when his Department plans to update that assessment.

Anna Soubry: It is not possible at this stage in the negotiation for the Government to assess the precise sectoral impact of the Trade in Services Agreement, but the European Commission are currently undertaking an impact assessment on the overall impact of the agreement. http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/policy-making/analysis/sustainability-impact-assessments/assessments/

Balance of Trade: Science

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the life sciences industry generated in trade surplus for (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in the last year for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: In 2014 the Life Science industry generated a trade deficit of £5.0bn for the UK.   Life Sciences goods that can be identified through standard industry classifications consists of pharmaceuticals, irradiation, electro-medical and electrotherapeutic equipment and medical and dental supplies.   Recent changes to international legislation on the compilation of the Balance of Payments have classed the trade in illegal drugs as pharmaceuticals. This change accounted for £4.3bn of the imports of pharmaceuticals in 2014.   Comparable figures for Scotland alone are not available.

Basic Skills

Mr Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support the Skills Funding Agency in prioritising adult basic skills training in English and mathematics.

Nick Boles: The provision of training in English and maths for all adults remains a priority for this Government. Literacy and numeracy are essential for success in work and everyday life, which is why we want to give all adults the opportunity to gain these necessary skills.Through a statutory entitlement, we fully fund all adults to achieve their first English and maths GCSE as well as any other qualifications which will help them find and sustain employment. This enables the Skills Funding Agency to continue to prioritise English and maths training for all adults.The total funding for education, training and retraining in English and maths in 2012/13 was £345,200,000. We supported around 500,000 learners in English and maths in 2012/13.We have set a clear expectation that having a good level of English and maths should be the norm. Learners who did not achieve a Level 2 in English and maths by the age of 16 are required to continue to study those subjects post-16 and we have increased the level we expect people to study, in apprenticeships and in traineeships.We are improving English and maths qualifications to ensure they are relevant and robust. We have reformed English and maths GCSEs and we plan to reform Functional Skills to make them more relevant and recognisable qualifications. We have invested over £30m to ensure that the Further Education workforce has the skills it needs to teach these subjects to a high level.

Shareholders

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to address the disparity between the number of shares owned by individuals and large investment funds.

Nick Boles: Large investment funds effectively comprise the investments of individuals, whether via their pension funds, insurance contracts, or other savings and investment products. The decision to invest in companies’ shares directly, or indirectly through a fund, is a matter for individual investors.   The Government has taken a variety of steps to encourage individual saving, and retail investment in shares in particular. For example, we have:   - Reduced the starting rate of income tax for savings; - Increased the maximum annual amount which can be invested in an Individual Savings Account (ISA) to £15,240 in the 2015-16 tax year, and provided savers with greater flexibility to withdraw their money and put it back in to an ISA within the same year, without losing their tax benefits; - Introduced, from April 2016, a new tax-free Personal Savings Allowance of £1,000 (or £500 for higher rate taxpayers) of interest earned on savings (taking 95 per cent of taxpayers out of savings tax altogether) as well as a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance for all taxpayers; - Allowed shares from growth markets such as the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to be held in ISAs - making investment in the growth markets easier; - Abolished stamp duty on AIM shares, attracting further investment into growing companies and reducing the cost of raising capital for those companies.

Postage Stamps

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with Royal Mail on the continued issuing of Country definitive postage stamps.

George Freeman: We have had no such discussions. Operational matters, which include decisions relating to Royal Mail’s postage stamps, are the direct responsibility of the company’s management (subject to an agreed convention and criteria governing the designs of postage stamps carrying an image of The Queen’s head, which are overseen by this Department).   The company maintains Country Definitives on an ongoing basis and has no current plans to change existing designs or its policy on such stamps. Country Definitives are available on an ongoing basis from post offices in the respective countries, and available direct from Royal Mail.

Sunday Trading

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department plans to publish the results of its consultation on Sunday trading.

Nick Boles: The Government is determined to devolve powers previously held in Whitehall to local areas. We are pleased that many business, shoppers and interested groups have taken this opportunity to share their views on giving local leaders the power to determine whether extended Sunday trading is right for their area. We are currently considering all the responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Agriculture

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to review the level of disclosed aid through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition Group.

Grant Shapps: The UK has committed a total of £600 million to the New Alliance over 3 years. This investment is split between commitments to food security, agriculture and nutrition programmes in six partner countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria), accounting for £480 million, and a range of wider enabling actions including policy tools and agricultural technology.   The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition group publish a comprehensive report on annual basis that can be found on the New Alliance website. Furthermore, every DFID programme contributing is subject to DFID’s annual review processes that are posted on the DFID Development Tracker website (http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/).

Pakistan: Education

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2015 to Question 7327, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy of promoting religious tolerance and respect for diversity of the findings on pages 10 and 11 of the report of the US Commission on International Freedom entitled Connecting the dots: education and religious discrimination in Pakistan, published in 2011.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID’s education programmes in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces support the implementation of Pakistan’s 2006 reformed curriculum which teaches religious tolerance and respect for diversity.   The UK has worked alongside the Government of Pakistan who have taken significant steps to update textbooks and replace any content that promotes prejudice and discrimination against religious or other minorities.  Independent evaluations in 2007 and 2013 confirmed this curriculum to be based on values of democracy, pluralism and peace aimed at educating students to be able to think critically about these issues.

Refugees

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support refugees from (a) Libya, (b) South Sudan, (c) Somalia, (d) Democratic Republic of Congo and (e) other countries.

Justine Greening: DFID provides humanitarian assistance which includes provision of support to UNHCR and other actors, such as NGOs, who are responsible for delivering assistance to refugees across the world. This includes in DRC, Somalia, South Sudan and other countries. We are closely monitoring the humanitarian situation in Libya, including the situation of refugees and internally displaced people.

Refugees

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to help co-ordinate (a) a European and (b) an international response to the refugee situation.

Justine Greening: The UK government has been at the forefront of the refugee crisis and is taking every opportunity to work with partners across Europe and in the wider international community to ensure that, collectively, we are able to provide a significant and comprehensive development response.   The UK is contributing over £1 billion in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region and is urging the international community as a whole to step up life-saving assistance and protection for refugees and vulnerable people.   The UK lobbied hard to mobilise funding from other donors ahead of the third Kuwait Pledging Conference on 31 March, which raised $3.6 billion. The UK has also co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolutions 2165 and 2191 which has enabled the UN to deliver aid across border without the consent of the Syrian regime in order to assist those in the hardest to reach areas.

Refugees

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, from projects in which Commonwealth countries she plans to reallocate funds from the foreign aid budget to settle refugees within the UK.

Justine Greening: Additional funds to support refugees in 2015/16 will be provided without directly impacting existing spending plans. Departmental budgets for 2016/17 onwards will be announced as part of the 2015 Spending Review.

British Overseas Territories: Communication

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on communications infrastructure in British Overseas Territories in each of the last two years.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID has not funded any projects specifically supporting communications infrastructure in the British Overseas Territories in the last two years. Support for communications infrastructure is provided as part of annual budget aid settlements to Montserrat, St Helena and Pitcairn.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: Buildings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent each month on the (a) maintenance and (b) running costs of court buildings that have been closed in the period up to their disposal since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what work his Department is undertaking to review whether tribunal fees are acting as a barrier to justice; and how many officials were engaged in that work (a) in March 2015 and (b) on the last date for which figures are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: On 11 June we announced the start of the post-implementation review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. The Review is being undertaken by the Fees Policy team, which comprises five officials, with support from officials working in Analytical Services, the legal team, and HMCTS.

Magistrates' Courts

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the utilisation rate of (a) Hartlepool and (b) Teesside magistrates' courts was in each of the last five years; and what the average utilisation rate in magistrates' courts in England and Wales was in each of those years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Utilisation rates for Hartlepool, Teesside and England and Wales are provided below: Property Name2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court and County Court70%43%50%44%49%Teesside Magistrates’ Court 78%76%80%68%58%England and Wales Magistrates' Court average59%63%63%51%46% This shows that nationally Magistrates’ Courts are used for less than half of their available hearing time.

Bail: West Yorkshire

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2015 to Question 4115, how many (a) offences in West Yorkshire were committed by offenders on bail and (b) offenders in West Yorkshire committed offences whilst on bail in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012 and (v) 2013.

Andrew Selous: Police forces use local systems to record offences committed on bail, and there is no requirement to report data centrally. The complete information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

National Offender Management Service: ICT

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects the rollout of the new NOMS IT system to be completed; and what estimate he has made of the final cost of the contract.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The roll-out of the new NOMS IT system is scheduled to be completed in 2016. The final cost of the roll-out of the new system is estimated to be within the original budget.

National Offender Management Service: ICT

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what additional cost was incurred to the new NOMS IT system by the postponement of the rollout of the programme nationally in March 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: There were no additional costs to the taxpayer.

Courts: Closures

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his definition is of a reasonable journey to court in proposing court closures.

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria he has used to determine a reasonable journey to court in considering proposals for court closures.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We will consider all identified impacts on travel times once the consultation closes and all responses have been fully analysed.

Courts: Closures

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to ensure the maintenance of good working relationships between magistrates, local solicitors, local authorities and the police in areas where it is proposed to close court buildings.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We will continue to work closely with the magistracy, our Criminal Justice System partners and professional bodies to build a simpler, swifter and more efficient justice system. Reform to our courts and tribunals will bring quicker and fairer access to justice and create a justice system that reflects the way people use services today.

Courts: Closures

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to monitor links between local people and justice provision as part of the reform of court accommodation; and what assessment he has made of how that reform will effect the delivery of local justice.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We will continue to work closely with the magistracy, our Criminal Justice System partners and professional bodies to build a simpler, swifter and more efficient justice system. We will consider all identified impacts on the delivery of justice once the consultation closes and all responses have been fully analysed.

Courts: Buildings

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria he applies to determine which court buildings are (a) over- and (b) under-utilised.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The criteria used to determine which buildings are being proposed for closure is included in the consultation document, which can be found at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/proposal-on-the-provision-of-court-and-tribunal-es

Prime Minister

Members: Surveillance

Ian Murray: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 8501, whether the Wilson Doctrine applies in the same way to Members of the Scottish Parliament as it applies to hon. Members and Members of the House of Lords.

Mr David Cameron: I have nothing further to add to my response to the hon. Member of 11 September 2015, UIN 8501.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Theatres: Government Assistance

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to help local theatres over the next five years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: During the last Parliament the Government launched the Theatre Tax Relief, which supports the theatre sector right across the country, helping to promote economic growth and widening opportunities for people to participate in the arts. The relief also extends the reach of touring organisations so that the whole country can enjoy different productions. Through the UK Government's public investment in the arts - which is distributed by Arts Council England - we support many regional and local theatres. Many theatres are Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations, which receive regular funding to support their work and productions. Other theatre organisations also receive National Lottery funding to support productions through the Grants for the Arts programme. The Arts Council also operates capital programmes of varying size that seek to help organisations become resilient, more sustainable and innovative by improving their existing buildings and equipment and increasing their capacity to engage with digital audiences. One of the beneficiaries in 2014/15 was Watford Palace in the South East, which received £300,000 to enhance their rehearsal facilities, improve energy efficiency and replace specialist equipment.

Tickets: Sales

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, what the (a) terms of reference, (b) composition of membership and (c) timescale is of the review into the secondary ticketing market.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, when he expects the review into the secondary ticketing market to (a) commence and (b) report its findings.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is currently considering who should chair the Review, who should assist them and the finalised terms of reference and will make an announcement on commencement shortly. The Review will report its findings before 26 May 2016.

Broadband: East of England

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase broadband coverage and speed in Suffolk and the East of England.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government has committed £26.68 million to the Suffolk broadband project. The current contracted coverage is to provide superfast broadband access to 117,493 homes and businesses in the county, extending coverage to nearly 91% of premises. Procurement is still under way for part of the funding and coverage will be extended further once contracts are agreed. As 30 June 2015, the Suffolk project had covered 84,447 superfast premises.Over £81 million of government funding has been committed to improving superfast broadband coverage in the East of England (including Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes). This will support delivery of superfast broadband to 642,160 homes and businesses in the region that would otherwise not have gained coverage.

Department for Work and Pensions

Health and Safety Executive

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria are used by the Health and Safety Executive to establish whether a sector presents a high risk and requires pro-active inspections.

Justin Tomlinson: HSE targets industry sectors for proactive inspection according to the framework for health and safety set out in the 2011 Coalition Government publication ‘Good health and safety, good for everyone’, which can be found on-line at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-health-and-safety-good-for-everyone.HSE employs a broad range of interventions to bring about improvements in occupational safety and health within industry sectors. Direct interventions include inspection, investigation and safety case assessment in major hazard sectors. Indirect interventions include the use of information and campaigns, guidance and engagement with intermediaries to raise awareness of duties, risks and to promote compliance across all workplaces in a sector.HSE’s choice of intervention strategy for any particular sector takes into account a combination of factors including the actual level of risk within the sector, the industry's injury and ill-health record, its structure and commitment to improving occupational safety and health, and the effectiveness and efficiency of different types of intervention.

Social Security Benefits

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of reducing the benefit cap on (a) homelessness and (b) temporary accommodation costs borne by local authorities.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in the benefit cap on local authority budgets.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. A link to the impact assessment is included.http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf

Department for Work and Pensions: Freedom of Information

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many hours his Department spent on processing freedom of information requests in each of the last 24 months.

Justin Tomlinson: Processing Freedom of Information requests is an integral part of civil servants' responsibilities. As such the number of hours spent on this activity is not separately identifiable.

Housing Benefit

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households were in receipt of housing benefit totalling up to (a) £10,000, (b) £25,000, (c) £50,000, (d) £75,000 and (e) £100,000 per annum in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.html To obtain the information divide the yearly amounts requested by 52.18 to give the weekly amount of housing benefit in payment. A search can then be made in Stat-Xplore for the number of cases with those weekly amounts in payment.

Unemployment: Older People

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help older unemployed people to retrain.

Priti Patel: Jobcentre Plus uses a range of innovative approaches to help older claimants back to work. Training to help unemployed people find work is available to benefit claimants of all ages. In addition, we have introduced a number of initiatives to support older people including the introduction of Jobcentre Plus Older Claimant Champions and the launch of the work experience and sector based work academy pilots that will support 3,000 claimants. We are trialling career reviews and digital support in two Jobcentre Plus districts.

Personal Independence Payment: Scotland

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Scotland have (a) applied for personal independence payments (PIPs), (b) been refused PIPs and (c) been refused PIPs and subsequently had that decision overturned on appeal; and how many such decisions overturned on appeal were challenged by his Department.

Justin Tomlinson: Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) registrations, clearances and award rates, at regional level, are available on Gov.UK and were most recently updated on 16 September: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics  The information requested in relation to appeals is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information on PIP mandatory reconsiderations has been published with the PIP data (earlier link refers) and data for PIP appeals are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their quarterly Tribunal statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#social-security-and-child-support-statistics

Occupational Pensions

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the Government's response to his Department's consultation on changes to the Occupational Pension (Investment) regulations.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government plans to respond to this consultation by the end of the year.

Social Security Benefits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the households affected by the benefit cap in May 2015 were also affected by that cap in February 2014.

Justin Tomlinson: 22,460 households were subject to the benefit cap as at May 2015 and of these, 10,170 households (45%) also had their benefits capped at February 2014.

Social Security Benefits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2015 to Question 8871, on data or categories of households affected by the benefit cap, if he will publish that administrative data on people claiming each benefit prior to May 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department has no plans to publish the benefit type administrative data prior to May 2015.

Pay

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on limits to progression pay increases for civil servants in his Department.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP does not have contractual pay progression. The value and method of any progression forms part of the annual pay review and must be affordable within the terms set out in the annual civil service pay guidance issued by Treasury.

Ministry of Defence

Nuclear Installations: Security

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reportable nuclear security incidents at defence sites he was notified of in the financial years (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and for each of these years, how many incidents were classified as (i) major, (ii) moderate, (iii) minor and (iv) of no significance according to the categorisation used by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

Mr Philip Dunne: There were no incidents of unauthorised access to nuclear weapons and material. Defence Ministers were notified of four security incidents in 2013-14 and three security incidents in 2014-15 at defence nuclear sites. The Office for Nuclear Regulation security categorisation does not apply to defence.

Nuclear Installations: Security

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which offices in his Department are responsible for maintaining and monitoring nuclear security at defence sites.

Mr Philip Dunne: There are a number of organisations within the Ministry of Defence (MOD) who have responsibility for maintaining and monitoring nuclear security at defence sites. MOD Head Office sets security policy for defence including the requirements for nuclear security. The responsibility for the delivery of nuclear security at defence nuclear sites rests with the Head of Establishment. Nuclear security assurance (monitoring) is delivered through self assurance by the defence nuclear site. Independent assurance is provided through the Principal Security Advisors to Front Line Commands and the Defence Equipment and Support organisation and through MOD Head Office.

Ministry of Defence: Bahrain

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ministry of Defence staff were based in Bahrain on (a) 1 January, (b) 1 April and (c) 1 September 2015.

Penny Mordaunt: The information requested is provided below. The numbers of Ministry of Defence staff in Bahrain may fluctuate slightly due to personnel leave and return from Rest and Recuperation.  Date Civilian Military Total  1 September 2015  1 111 112 1 April 2015  1 117 118 1 January 2015  1 122 123

Pakistan: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance his Department gave to the Pakistani Armed Forces during recent unmanned aerial vehicle operations in that country.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence has had no involvement in Pakistan's development of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what rules of engagement his Department has developed for strikes using unmanned aerial vehicle systems against terrorist targets in states against which the UK is not at war other than Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The UK's Reaper Remotely Piloted Air Systems operate under the same Rules of Engagement (ROE) as manned aircraft. UK ROE comply with UK and International Law.

Intelligence Services: Finance

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Single Intelligence Account is or will be incorporated into his Department's budget; and whether the Single Intelligence Account is included in calculations of the percentage of the UK's GDP being spent on defence.

Michael Fallon: The Secret Intelligence Account is not part of the Ministry of Defence's budget, and there are no plans for it to be incorporated.As announced in the Summer Budget, the spending that supports the Ministry of Defence and the contribution made by the secret intelligence agencies will be included in calculations of Defence spending as a percentage of GDP, in line with NATO guidelines.

Saudi Arabia

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) civilian staff of his Department based in the UK, (b) military personnel based in the UK, (c) civilian staff of his Department based in Saudi Arabia and (d) military personnel based in Saudi Arabia were employed by the Saudi Arabian National Guard Communications Project on 1 April 2015.

Michael Fallon: The number of civilian and military staff based in the UK and in Saudi Arabia working on the Saudi Arabian National Guard Communications (SANGCOM) Project on 1 April 2015 is shown below. The Saudi Arabian Government reimburses the UK Ministry of Defence for these staff costs and there is, therefore, no cost to the UK taxpayer.  Manpower number as at 1 April 2015 SANGCOM Project UK-based Civilian Staff2UK-based Military Staff0Saudi Arabia-based Civilian Staff34Saudi Arabia-based Military Staff20

Russia: Military Aircraft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take in response to incursions into British sovereign airspace by Russian Aerospace Forces.

Penny Mordaunt: Russian military aviation has never entered British Sovereign Airspace without permission.The RAF has identified, intercepted and escorted Russian military aircraft transiting through international airspace in the vicinity of the UK. Russian military flights can present a potential safety concern to other airspace users because of their practice of not communicating with air traffic control agencies with regard to their intentions, not filing a flight plan or not transmitting a recognisable secondary surveillance radar transponder code. Their activity therefore needs careful monitoring, which is why we intercept such flights.The UK works closely with our Allies to keep NATO's airspace safe and secure and to enable a co-ordinated NATO air policing response.

Armed Forces: Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 4788, what assessment he has made of the reason why figures pertaining to the number of army and RAF visits to schools in the academic years from 2012 to 2015 are lower than figures for earlier years provided during the last Parliament by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 September 2015 to Question 8831.Our assessment has shown that there is no single reason behind the reduction in the overall number of visits by either the Army or the RAF in recent years.



Q n A extract on Armed Forces Education
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Afghanistan: Interpreters

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department is providing to vulnerable interpreters in Afghanistan who have worked with British armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt: Our Intimidation Policy supports all local staff, regardless of role or employment duration, who may be facing security risks as a result of their work with British Forces. The UK is the only nation with a permanent team in country to address the concerns of those worried about their safety, including trained police officers to investigate reported intimidation incidents. These experts thoroughly and professionally investigate all claims of intimidation and have provided support to some 300 former local staff. This support has included bespoke security advice and financial support for some 30 relocations within Afghanistan.

Home Office

Asylum: Deportation

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with their EU counterparts on the use of the Dublin Convention to remove asylum seekers to the country in which they were first encountered; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Kit Malthouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences where alcohol consumption was a contributory factor were recorded by Hampshire Police in each of the last three years; how many such offences took place in (a) Basingstoke, (b) Newbury and (c) Andover; and how many such cases involved repeat offenders.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold the information requested centrally.According to the 2013/14 Crime Survey for England and Wales, there were an estimated 704,000 violent incidents where the offender was under the influence of alcohol (53% of violent incidents), in England and Wales as a whole. This is compared with around 863,000 incidents in 2010/11 (48% of violent incidents). The proportion of violent incidents perceived to involve alcohol is similar between 2010/11 and 2013/14 (not statistically significantly different).

Immigrants: Employment

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what circumstances the Employer Checking Service will review or revisit a determination it has made on an individual's right to work in the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Employer Checking Service will review or revisit a decision after a complaint or after receiving further information regarding an individual’s immigration status. If an error is found it is rectified immediately.

Asylum: Syria

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Statement on Syrian Refugees and Counter-terrorism of 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 24, how many additional refugees the Government plans to take under the (a) Gateway programme and (b) Mandate programme over the duration of this Parliament.

James Brokenshire: The Gateway programme demonstrates the UK’s proud tradition of providing protection to refugees; and of the UK’s commitment to supporting UNHCR’s global effort to provide durable solutions to the plight of refugees. Since the first arrivals in March 2004, the UK has resettled over 6,300 refugees under the Gateway programme. The current commitment is to resettle 750 refugees per year, generally those in protracted situations, and has been fully met over the last two years. The Mandate Refugee Scheme is designed to resettle individual refugees from anywhere in the world who have been recognised as refugees by UNHCR, and judged by them to be in need of resettlement; and who have a close family member in the UK who is willing to accommodate them.Therefore this scheme has no quota. There are no plans to expand either of these schemes over the term of this Parliament and we will continue with our commitment to offer protection to those in most need, along side those beneficiaries of the Vulnerable Person’s Relocation scheme.

Asylum: Scotland

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on (a) receiving representations and (b) entering into correspondence with Members of the Scottish Parliament on behalf of constituents who are seeking asylum in the UK.

James Brokenshire: UK Visas & Immigration responds to enquiries on immigration cases raised by all levels of elected representatives and peers. The Home Office recommends that constituents with immigration enquiries use their Member of Parliament for the speediest response through one of UKVI’s six MP Account Management teams across the UK.

Refugees: Syria

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees the Government expects to receive under the expanded Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018 and (d) 2019.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of refugees that the Government expects to receive under the expanded Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme before the end of this calendar year.

Richard Harrington: We intend to resettle up to 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament. We will continue to work closely with the UNHCR to identify appropriate cases, prioritising the most vulnerable. As the expanded scheme is based on need and reliant on the UNHCR and other partners to deliver, it is not possible or appropriate to set any sort of annual target, but we are clear that we want to help as many people as we can as quickly as possible.

Deportation

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish her Department's general policy advice on handling requests for revocations of a deportation by a person outside the UK; and for what reasons the website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revoking-a-deportation-order-requests-made-from-outside-the-uk-2 has been taken down.

James Brokenshire: The guidance on how to make a request for revocation of a deportation order was removed from the .GOV.UK website pending updates to the current guidance on wider policy issues. We intend to re-publish the guidance shortly.

Refugees

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees have been accommodated in each local authority in England, Wales and Scotland under the Gateway scheme in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: From 2010 up to 30 June this year, 3822 refugees have been accommodated by 14 local authorities under the Gateway Protection Programme. A further 22 refugees have been resettled with their relatives and were not accommodated by any local authority. It would not be appropriate for us to release details of where individuals are currently being placed or where they may be placed in the future, as this may undermine their privacy.

Asylum

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers the Government plans to resettle in (a) Oldham, (b) Rochdale, (c) all 10 Greater Manchester metropolitan boroughs, (d) London and (e) the South East.

James Brokenshire: Under the Immigration and Asylum act 1999, asylum seekers who need accommodation are housed in communities across the UK according to an agreed ratio, based on various regional factors. This is reviewed regularly. Within each region, UKVI has established working arrangements with local authorities in order to consider dispersal patterns and numbers. This includes consulting key corporate partners in the local area in order to assess regularly the impact of dispersal policy on a particular community.The COMPASS contract requires providers to liaise and consult with local authorities to ensure that accommodation provided to asylum seekers does not adversely affect local authority developments or community plans. Providers must also take into account the cultural compatibility of the environment; capacity of local health, education and other support services; concentration of accommodation of service users within particular areas; and the assessment of social tension risks.Following the expansion of the Government's vulnerable person resettlement scheme, we have established a cross-Government committee to oversee the resettlement of vulnerable refugees. The Local Government Association attended the first meeting of that committee on 11 September, and we are working closely with them and local authorities about future resettlement.

Syria: Refugees

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of providing support to Syrian refugees relocated to the UK in each of the last four years; and what the number of such refugees resettled was in each of those years.

Richard Harrington: The Syrian Vulnerable Persons' Relocation scheme was launched in January 2014 and is the first resettlement programme in the UK to target support for refugees specifically on the basis of their vulnerability. It is helping those in the greatest need, including people requiring urgent medical treatment, survivors of violence and torture, and women and children at risk.Since the first arrivals in March 2014, 216 individuals have been resettled in the United Kingdom. Statistics on arrivals under the scheme are published through our official statistics at quarterly intervals and include numbers to the year ending June 2015. These will be available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseUp to the end of August 2015, the Home Office’s expenditure on the Vulnerable Persons’ Relocation Scheme has been £1.13m.

Human Trafficking: Compensation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much compensation has been received by victims of trafficking identified by the Gangmasters' Licensing Authority in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: During the financial years 2010/11 to 2012/13, no prosecutions by the Gangmasters' Licensing Authority resulted in compensation orders for victims. In August 2013, a compensation order was made requiring the offender to pay the victim £57,801 within three years. Victims identified by the GLA can also seek compensation through other channels, including the Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme and civil remedies.Victims can also seek compensation through Reparation Orders but it is not yet possible to establish what fur-ther compensation can be accessed as they were only recently introduced by the Modern Slavery Act.

Company Investigations: Freezing of Assets

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the scope of police powers to freeze company assets encompasses a company domain name; what provisions exists for such a domain name to be renewed if it was frozen during a police investigation; who is permitted to renew such a name where a company under investigation has no access to its assets; and what recourse a company has to regain its domain name if it was lost during the course of a police investigation.

Mike Penning: The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 permits an application for a restraint order to be made to “freeze” the property of an alleged offender and has the effect of freezing realisable property that may be liable to a later confiscation order. The Act defines realisable property as any free property held by the defendant including any intangible or incorporeal property. The intellectual property rights in a domain name could fall within this definition and so a restraint order would be available. A company is a separate legal entity to its shareholders and directors and so a restraint order against realisable property held by a company would only be available where the alleged offender was that company. The terms of the restraint order prevent the alleged offender from dealing with their realisable property. Whilst property is under restraint, the judge may, depending on the circumstances of the case, exempt property which is required for legitimate business purposes to enable a person to carry on any trade, profession or occupation, for example, to enable continued use of a domain name.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many victims of (a) human trafficking for non-sexual exploitation and (b) forced labour, slavery and servitude have been awarded compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority since 2014.

Karen Bradley: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority cannot provide data on the compensation it has awarded to victims of a particular crime type. This is because it awards compensation in line with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme tariff of injuries rather than the type of incident that led to those injuries.

HM Passport Office: Correspondence

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Passport Office plans to inform the hon. Member's constituent of the outcome of their passport application, reference 681 355 476.

James Brokenshire: It is not Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HM Passport Office) normal practice to discuss individual cases in a PQ. However, HM Passport Office confirms that they will be contacting the Honourable Member by 18 September to advise him of the progress of this application. HM Passport Office can also confirm that they are attempting to contact the constituent to update him.

Refugees: Syria

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the 20,000 Syrian refugees to be taken in by the UK will be housed by Serco.

James Brokenshire: Serco is one of three providers who operate under the COMPASS contracts to provide accommodation for destitute asylum seekers. There is currently no intention of providing accommodation for the expanded resettlement scheme through the COMPASS contracts.

Asylum: Housing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the overall cost to the public purse of Serco's contract with the Government to re-house asylum seekers.

James Brokenshire: We cannot divulge the payments made under the COMPASS contracts for reasons of commercial sensitivity.However, the costs of the COMPASS contracts were anticipated at the time of procurement to be £172 million in the North West of England, and £82 million in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These costs relate to the full seven year life of the contracts.

Emergency Services: Driving Offences

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to reduce the number of speeding tickets issued to ambulances and other emergency vehicles.

Mike Penning: The enforcement of speeding limits is an operational matter for the police. Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act (1984), any driver using a vehicle for an emergency service purpose can claim an exemption from speeding penalties if complying with the speed limits would have hindered the purpose for which the vehicle was being used.

Drugs: Regulation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the regulation of legal highs.

Mike Penning: The Psychoactive Substances Bill, introducing a blanket ban on the supply of psychoactive substances, was introduced before the House of Commons on 21 July 2015.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Freedom of Information

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many hours his Department spent on processing freedom of information requests in each of the last 24 months.

Alun Cairns: The Wales Office has a shared service arrangement with the Northern Ireland Office for the provision of FOI services. There is one full time FOI manager employed by the Northern Ireland Office supported by three people from the Wales Office on a part time basis (0.4 full time equivalent staff). The FOI Team does not record the number of hours spent on processing FOI requests.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Horse Passports

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of horses not properly registered under passport and micro-chipping regulations in the UK.

George Eustice: Defra has not made an estimate of the number of horses not properly registered and identified under passport and micro-chipping regulations in the UK. Local Authorities are responsible for enforcing the regulations and prosecuting owners of unidentified horses, and records of these are not held centrally.

Ivory: Sales

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislation to ban the sale of ivory in the UK.

Rory Stewart: I refer the Rt hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood, Cat Smith, on 16 June 2015, PQ UIN1580.

Non-native Species

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the (a) escape and (b) illegal release of non-native wild animals from captivity.

Rory Stewart: As this is a devolved matter this answer applies to England only.   Section 14(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it illegal to release or allow to escape into the wild, any animal or plant which is not ordinarily resident in Great Britain and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state, or is listed in Schedule 9 to the Act. Breaches of this legislation could lead to an unlimited fine and/or two years imprisonment on indictment.   In addition to the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, Orders made in accordance with the Import of Live Fish Act 1980 prohibit the unlicensed keeping or release of 47 species of non-native live fish and all non-native crayfish species.

Fly-tipping

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to counteract the rise in fly-tipping.

Rory Stewart: Tackling fly-tipping is a priority for the Government. As set out in our manifesto we will be giving councils the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping as well as reviewing the existing fixed penalty notices for littering.   These steps will build on other Government action to tackle fly-tipping, which has included; working with the Sentencing Council on its guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July last year; making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and continuing work in partnership with others through the Defra chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.

Business: Carbon Emissions

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) FTSE 100 and (b) FTSE 350 companies made voluntary climate disclosures beyond legal reporting requirements in the last year for which figures are available.

Rory Stewart: Defra does not hold the information requested.

Common Agricultural Policy: Subsidies

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to conduct her Department's planned review of the convergence uplift payments immediately.

George Eustice: The Government has committed to undertaking a review in 2016/17 of intra-UK CAP budget allocations.

HM Treasury

London Airports

Roger Mullin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on potential Barnett consequentials arising from the public expenditure on infrastructure and access associated with the proposed new runway in south east England.

Greg Hands: The Chancellor has not had any such discussions.

Freezing of Assets: Libya

Lady Hermon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the value of Libyan assets frozen in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: Following action at the United Nations, Council Regulation (EU) No 204/2011 of 2 March 2011 imposed an asset freeze against listed individuals and entities in view of the situation in Libya. The EU regulation, which has direct effect in the UK, requires that all assets owned or controlled by listed persons are frozen.   The approximate aggregate value of funds frozen in UK jurisdiction under EU Regulation 204/2011 is £ 9,467,630,000. These funds continue to belong to the individuals and entities listed under the Regulation and are not seized or otherwise held by HM Government. The figure is provided on an aggregate basis so as not to indirectly disclose the value of funds held by particular individuals or entities.   HM Treasury publishes the names of those subject to EU financial sanctions on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK, which can be found on gov.uk website.

Money Advice Service: Contracts for Services

Mr Graham Brady: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date the tender which led to the Money Advice Service finding 100 new debt advisers posts at Stepchange was published; how many and who the shortlisted bidders were for that tender; on what date the decision on the tender was made; and if he will publish in full information on to how that tendering process was undertaken.

Harriett Baldwin: This is a matter for the Money Advice Service who have agreed to write in response to the honourable gentleman.

Fiscal Policy: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on (a) Scottish Government borrowing by means of (i) the National Loans Fund, (ii) private financial institutions and (iii) the issuing of Scottish Government bonds and (b) Scotland's Fiscal Framework in general.

Greg Hands: As part of the Scotland Act 2012 the Government agreed that the Scottish Government would be able to borrow up to a limit of £2.2 billion for capital investment. The Scottish Government is able to borrow for this purpose by any means, including from the Government, private markets, or the issuing of bonds. The current Scotland Bill will be underpinned by a new fiscal framework, allowing the new powers in the Bill to be used effectively. Ministers have committed to agreeing the framework in the autumn and a final agreement will be published in due course.

VAT: Scotland

Drew Hendry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much value added tax was accrued to the Exchequer from Scotland in the last financial year.

Drew Hendry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the VAT collected by businesses operating in Scotland but registered in other parts of the UK.

Mr David Gauke: Figures on the amount of VAT accrued in Scotland are not available. However, we do publish an estimate of receipts attributed to Scotland in the following publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/disaggregation-of-hmrc-tax-receipts   HMRC has made no estimate of VAT collected by businesses operating in Scotland but registered to other parts of the UK.

Property: Tax Avoidance

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of undervaluing properties for sale; and what steps he is taking to tackle tax avoidance arising from practice.

Mr David Gauke: The market value of a property can be relevant to tax liability. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will target such cases for enquiry to ensure that tax is not understated. HMRC works with expert valuers in the Valuation Office Agency where valuation is disputed.   In most cases, undervaluation of a property will be a mistake by the taxpayer or, in some cases, evasion. HMRC already has the powers needed to tackle such misdeclarations. At the July Budget, this Government announced additional investment in HMRC to tackle non-compliance.

Stamp Duties

Louise Haigh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to change the definition of intermediary relief from stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax.

Mr David Gauke: There are no plans to make changes to intermediary relief from Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax.  Intermediary relief ensures that the UK equity market functions efficiently by preserving liquidity. Changes to intermediary relief would risk causing serious disruption to the market with implications both for companies’ funding costs and for London’s position as a global listing venue. Even a small restriction could be damaging by causing a change in behaviour, resulting in less tax revenue overall.

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax

Louise Haigh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the turnover in UK equities is liable for stamp duty reserve tax in each of the last 12 months.

Mr David Gauke: We do not hold figures for the proportion of turnover in UK equities that was liable to Stamp Duty Reserve Tax.

Devolution: Finance

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Barnett consequential funding the Government has provided to each of the devolved administrations as a result of changes in funding provided to the Department for Transport in each year since 2010-11 to date; and with which programmes such changes in funding were associated.

Greg Hands: As the Barnett Formula is applied at a departmental level at Spending Reviews, it is not possible to disaggregate the application of the Barnett Formula to changes in individual programmes in the Department for Transport’s funding at either Spending Review 2010 or Spending Round 2013.

Counter-terrorism and Defence

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding the Government has allocated to (a) defence and (b) counter-terrorism.

Greg Hands: The Ministry of Defence’s budget for the current financial year is £34.6bn. Spending on Counter Terrorism across government for this financial year totals more than £2bn spent by a range of departments, agencies and the police.   The Government announced at the Summer Budget that the MOD’s budget will rise by 0.5% per year in real terms from 2016/17 to 2020/21. There will also an additional £1.5bn per year by 2020/21 to spend on the military and intelligence agencies. The Government also committed to protect Counter Terrorism spending of more than £2bn in real terms.   Further details on funding allocations will be announced in the Spending Review on 25th November.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Department for Energy and Climate Change: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many officials in her Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU. The Department has many different contact points with the EU, and is playing its full part in supporting the Government’s priorities in Europe.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has conducted of the effectiveness of the feed-in tariff subsidy for solar panels in achieving its objectives; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC published an independent review of evidence on the performance and impact of the Feed-in Tariff scheme, undertaken by Dr Colin Nolden, an academic at Sussex University, on 27 August 2015. This evidence review can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-a-review-of-the-feed-in-tariff-scheme.

Offshore Industry: Employment

Stuart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policy of (a) the findings of the Oil and Gas Authority's Call to Action report, published on 25 February 2015, on employment in the oil and gas industry and (b) that report's other findings; and what steps she plans to take to support employment in that industry.

Andrea Leadsom: Government is committed to supporting the oil and gas industry, which is vital to our energy supply and supports around 375,000 UK jobs. We recognise the challenges resulting from lower oil prices, and those highlighted in the Oil and Gas Authority’s Call to Action report. The Oil and Gas Authority is working with groups such as the Scottish Energy Jobs Taskforce, to encourage companies to consider all possible alternatives to redundancy and retain capability needed for the future.

Renewable Energy

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to incentivise the use of renewable energy in businesses and homes.

Andrea Leadsom: The Feed-in Tariff scheme has been hugely successful in encouraging the generation of low carbon energy for homes and businesses and we will continue to incentivise this growing sector.On heat, the Renewable Heat Incentive encourages the installation of renewable heating in place of fossil fuels in homes and non-domestic buildings. This includes air-source heat pumps; deep geothermal; energy from waste; and a wide range of other technologies.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Pensions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's pension reform proposals form part of  a wider workforce reform package.

Andrea Leadsom: His Rt. Hon. and Noble Friend Lord Hutton’s report on Public Service Pensions was adopted by the Government in 2013 and set out the direction of travel for all public sector pensions.We are now considering, with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, what steps we can take to implement the public sector reforms bearing in mind the unique complexities and the vital importance of our nuclear decommissioning programme.

Cabinet Office

Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on which dates cabinet ministers visited Scotland on official engagements between 8 May 2014 and 18 September 2014; and what the purpose was of each such visit.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on which dates cabinet ministers visited Scotland on official engagements between 8 May 2015 and 14 September 2015; whether any further such visits are planned to take place before 18 September 2015; and what the purpose was of each such visit.

Matthew Hancock: This information is not collected by the Cabinet Office. Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and overseas visits are published routinely.

House of Commons Commission

Parliament: Art Works

Justin Madders: To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2015 to Question 3834, what disposal strategy there is for the Parliamentary Art Collection.

Tom Brake: The disposals policy for the Parliamentary Art Collection was reviewed and agreed in 2013 and is published with my answer.



4-page document
(PDF Document, 43.76 KB)

Parliament: Art Works

Justin Madders: To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how many items in the Parliamentary Art Collection are (a) on and (b) not on public display.

Tom Brake: The total recorded number of works of art in the Parliamentary Art Collection (House of Commons and House of Lords) is 7,900.On average, approximately 6,320 works, or 80% of the whole Parliamentary Art Collection is on display around the buildings of the Parliamentary Estate (Commons and Lords) at any one time. Approximately 1,500 of those works are in areas to which the public have access, including committee rooms and banqueting facilities to which guests may be taken.The Works of Art Committees take care to ensure that the most important works in the collection are displayed in public areas on the line of route, in committee rooms and in banqueting areas to which the public have access.Works from the collection are also drawn from other areas across the Estate for temporary displays such as the current ‘Waterloo, Wellington and Westminster’ exhibition in the Royal Gallery and the Election Artist display in Portcullis House which will accessible during the forthcoming ‘Open House’ weekend.The public also have access to the Collection via the Parliamentary Art Collection website www.parliament.uk/art which also features online exhibitions, videos and lectures about the collection.

Department of Health

Defibrillators

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England's high cost device steering group sought advice from clinicians and other healthcare professionals before recommending the removal of implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost device exclusion list.

Ben Gummer: Membership of the high cost devices steering group includes clinicians, commissioners and financial departments from trusts. NHS England also included discussion about the high cost devices being removed from tariff in the expert working group meeting on cardiology on the proposed price relativities. NHS England and Monitor are currently engaging on proposals in the national tariff and will consider feedback on proposals in the consultation on the 2016/17 National Tariff.

Defibrillators

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask NHS England to publish the minutes of meetings of the high cost device steering group at which the recommendation was made to remove subcutaneous implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost device exclusion list.

Ben Gummer: There is no plan to publish the minutes. It is important to note that the discussions about removing implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD) devices from the high cost list related to all ICDs not just the subcutaneous ICDs.

Defibrillators

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England and Monitor about the proposal to remove subcutaneous implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost device exclusion list as part of the 2016-17 national tariff proposals.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gives responsibility for National Tariff to Monitor and NHS England. As such, Monitor and NHS England have worked with the relevant experts to propose changes to the high cost list, including removing implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost list. We are currently engaging on these proposals and will respond to this feedback in the proposals set out in the Consultation on the 2016/17 National Tariff.   The Office for Life Science and the Department are conducting the Innovative Medicines and Medical Technology Review, which will be led by Sir Hugh Taylor. The review will make recommendations to Government on reform to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies (including devices and diagnostics).

Medical Equipment

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England about the criteria used to decide (a) when and (b) which high cost devices are removed from the high-cost drugs and devices list.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gives responsibility for the National Tariff to Monitor and NHS England. The criteria for listing a drug or device on the high cost list are set out on the NHS England website and are made clear as part of the engagement. When it is felt that there is sufficient evidence to remove a high cost device from the list, Monitor and NHS England propose this as part of a wider engagement and will gather wider views on the appropriateness of the change. All feedback will be reviewed to take a final view.

Defibrillators

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the removal of implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost drugs and devices list, as part of 2016-17 national tariff proposals.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gives responsibility for National Tariff to Monitor and NHS England. The decision to propose removing implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost list was made given the available evidence on costs, including reference cost data and device costs collected from the National Health Service. Monitor and NHS England will be listening to feedback on the proposal and adding this evidence to that already collected before making a final proposal for the 2016/17 National Tariff in the Consultation.   The Office for Life Science and the Department are conducting the Innovative Medicines and Medical Technology Review, which will be led by Sir Hugh Taylor. The review will make recommendations to Government on reform to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies (including devices and diagnostics).

Pancreatic Cancer

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2015 to Question 5351, what mechanisms are in place to assess whether the dietary and other standards set out in the service specifications for pancreatic cancer are being met.

Jane Ellison: The standards set for pancreatic cancer are reviewed in two ways:   - By local commissioning teams to check compliance against the service review with each provider. This is a formal process and providers not meeting the key requirements are required to produce an action plan. This includes compliance with multi-disciplinary team membership. - Where Cancer Peer Review applies to a service, providers are assessed and measures that are not met are followed up with the Trust Board.   Some of the areas referred to in the service specification are linked services under the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups and are included so the relationships between different parts of the pathway are clear.

Palliative Care

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of What's Important to me: A review of Choice in End of Life Care, published in February 2015.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 6 of What's Important to me: A review of Choice in End of Life Care, whether he will invest £130 million in palliative and end of life care as recommended in the previous Government's review of end of life care.

Ben Gummer: The Government is committed to improving choice and quality in end of life care. We support the vision of greater choice outlined by the independently-led Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which published its advice to Government in February. We intend to respond in full to the review later this year.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects of the proposed changes to the Tier 2 visas minimum income threshold on recruitment of NHS nursing staff in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Ben Gummer: National Health Service organisations are best placed to decide how many staff they employ and how best to recruit those staff to meet services tailored to the needs of their patients and local communities, to deliver safe care.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses from outside the European Economic Area who were granted Tier 2 visas are working in the NHS in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Ben Gummer: This information is not collected by the Department.

Hernias: Surgery

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for a NHS hernia operation for patients in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table. These data are from hospital episode statistics (HES) and measure the waiting time between decision to admit and admission to hospital.   They are not the same as the referral to treatment waiting times data that monitor delivery of the NHS Constitution right to start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. These data do not include condition specific information such as hernia operations.   Median waiting time in days between decision to admit and admission to hospital for patients admitted for a main procedure of hernia, 2013-14  Median waiting time (days)University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust91West Midlands68England60   Source: HES, Health and Social Care Information Centre   Notes:1. Main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. 2. The following OPCS codes were used to identify hernia operations:   G23.- Repair of diaphragmatic hernia R01.2 Fetoscopic insertion of tracheal plug for congenital diaphragmatic hernia R04.6 Percutaneous insertion of fetal tracheal plug for congenital diaphragmatic hernia T16.4 Repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia T19.- Simple excision of inguinal hernial sac T20.- Primary repair of inguinal hernia T21.- Repair of recurrent inguinal hernia T22.- Primary repair of femoral hernia T23.- Repair of recurrent femoral hernia T24.- Primary repair of umbilical hernia T25.- Primary repair of incisional hernia T26.- Repair of recurrent incisional hernia T27.- Repair of other hernia of abdominal wall T97.- Repair of recurrent umbilical hernia T98.- Repair of recurrent other hernia of abdominal wall 3. West Midlands is defined as the West Midlands Government Office Region (GOR) of treatment. These data are derived from the hospital provider code and indicate the GOR area within which the treatment took place

Blood: Contamination

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to people diagnosed with hepatitis C acquired through NHS blood treatments where medical records have been lost.

Jane Ellison: People who think they have contracted hepatitis C via National Health Service-supplied blood or blood products should contact their general practitioner in the first instance and also the Skipton Fund, one of the ex-gratia payment schemes offering support to those affected by this tragedy.

Radiography

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions NHS England's high cost device steering group has had with interventional radiologists on the proposed decision to remove the interventional radiology best practice tariff from the 2016-17 tariff proposals.

Ben Gummer: The High Cost Devices Steering Group considers the list of devices that are to be reimbursed outside of national prices. It does not advise on changes to best practice tariffs.

Radiography

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions NHS England had with (a) the NHS England clinical reference group for interventional radiology and (b) the British Society for Interventional Radiologists on the proposed removal of the interventional radiology best practice tariff.

Ben Gummer: Monitor and NHS England have shared responsibility for the national tariff, and are inviting feedback on this proposed change as part of their engagement on proposals for the 2016/17 national tariff. The feedback from this exercise will inform the proposals to be published for statutory consultation.   The interventional radiology best practice tariff was introduced to ensure adequate reimbursement for a set of interventional radiology procedures. NHS England and Monitor now propose this is unnecessary as these procedures are identified by new Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs) with the proposed introduction of HRG4+ in the national tariff 2016/17.

Medical Equipment

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the removal of peripheral vascular and drug eluting stents from the high cost device exclusion list in the 2016-17 tariff proposals on patient access to the technology.

Ben Gummer: The proposal to remove peripheral vascular and drug eluting stents from the high cost device list was made given the available evidence on costs, including reference cost data and device costs collected from the National Health Service. Monitor and NHS England will listen to feedback on the initial proposal before making a final proposal for the 2016/17 national tariff. Monitor will publish an impact assessment alongside the statutory consultation on proposals for the 2016/17 national tariff.

Radiography

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the removal of the interventional radiology best practice tariff from the 2016-17 tariff proposals on (a) the number of lower limb amputations associated with diabetes and peripheral arterial disease and (b) patient access to uterine fibroid embolisation.

Ben Gummer: Proposed changes to the national tariff are subject to impact assessment. Monitor has published an initial analysis of the impact of the draft 2016/17 price relativities ‘Impact assessment 2016/17 national tariff proposals: Currency design and relative prices’. A copy of this is attached.   A more comprehensive impact assessment will be published by Monitor alongside the statutory consultation on proposals for the 2016/17 national tariff. 



2016-17 national tariff proposals
(PDF Document, 1.13 MB)

Medical Equipment

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the criteria used to decide when and which high cost devices are removed from the high cost device list.

Ben Gummer: Monitor and NHS England have shared responsibility for the national tariff. The criteria for listing a drug or device on the high cost list are published on the NHS England website:   https://www.england.nhs.uk/resources/pay-syst/drugs-and-devices/high-cost-devices/   The Innovative Medicines and Medtech Review, joint with the Office of Life Science, will make recommendations to Government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies (including devices and diagnostics).

Mental Health Services: Males

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department makes support available to men experiencing family isolation.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not make support available to men experiencing family isolation. Local commissioners are responsible for ensuring that health services match the needs of the population. However, in 2012 the Department announced that local authorities would now be expected to identify areas where older people suffer most acutely from loneliness to allow them to tackle the growing problem of social isolation and its harmful effects.   Research clearly shows that loneliness can affect health, increasing the risk of heart disease, putting people at greater risk of blood clots and dementia, and making them more likely to exercise less and drink more. Socially isolated and lonely adults are also more likely to undergo early admission into residential or nursing care. The new measure of social isolation, launched as part of the updated Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework for 2013/14, is part of a package of plans to addressing the challenges of caring for an ageing population.   The Government knows that there are links between mental ill health and social factors like isolation and family breakdown. Preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives, published in 2012, identified a number of high risk groups who are priorities for prevention young and middle-aged men. The Strategy recognises that factors associated with suicide in men include family and relationship problems including marital breakup and social isolation. Those who work with men in different settings, especially primary care, need to be particularly alert to the signs of suicidal behaviour.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8027, what information his Department holds on the forecast amount to be spent on recruitment campaigns for GPs in each of the next two financial years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: In January 2015, Health Education England (HEE), alongside NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee, jointly published Building the Workforce – the new deal for general practice which set out an action plan to increase general practitioner (GP) numbers. This plan, which has been allocated £10 million of the Primary Care Infrastructure Fund for this year, includes a campaign targeted at recruitment to GP training which is due to commence later this month. HEE is currently in discussions with NHS England regarding the budget to be committed to this campaign. Any further allocations for such work to continue during 2016-17 and 2017-18 will, if necessary, be determined as part of the wider Spending Review negotiations across Government.

Eyesight: Testing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with (a) a brain tumour and (b) other conditions as a result of symptoms noticed during examinations by opticians in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: Information provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that during 2013/14 there were 159,626 referrals from optometrists to secondary care. It is not possible, however, to identify a diagnosis given the collection of this information is not mandatory.

Alzheimer's Disease: Dental Health

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission a study to investigate potential links between dental treatment and Alzheimer's disease.

Alistair Burt: The Department has no plans to commission a study on the specific risk of transmission of Alzheimer’s disease in dentistry. There is no evidence that Alzheimer's disease can be transmitted through any medical procedure. In dentistry, patients are protected from the risk of infection by either mandatory single use instruments, or where instruments are reused, by guidance on strict decontamination procedures as per the Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices - 2013 edition.

NHS: Pay

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the public sector pay freeze on NHS staff morale; and whether he plans to survey NHS staff on that matter.

Alistair Burt: National Health Service staff earning above £21,000 had their pay frozen during 2011/12 and 2012/13 with, since then, most staff receiving at least 1% increases. This approach to pay has helped protect jobs in the NHS and maintain services for patients.   There is no evidence that the pay freeze affected staff morale. While the NHS Staff Survey, which provides the most comprehensive assessment of staff views about working in the NHS, does not directly measure staff morale, staff engagement, which includes staff motivation at work, staff recommending their trust as a place to work or receive treatment, and the percentage of staff able to contribute towards improvements at work, has remained high with a score of 3.76/5 in 2014 (latest available) rising from 3.68/5 in 2012 (the first year staff engagement was included).

Dental Services: Children

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to encourage orthodontists to offer NHS appointments to children outside school hours.

Alistair Burt: NHS England contracts for orthodontic services at a local level taking account of the local oral health needs. Therefore opening hours are a matter for agreement between local commissioners and providers.

Pregnancy: Screening

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the NHS has made of the potential benefits and disadvantages of the use of Doppler scans in preventing stillbirths.

Ben Gummer: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening is currently looking at the evidence for a variety of tests (including doppler scans) and treatments to see if they would be able to help to reduce stillbirths. The UK NSC will evaluate the benefits and risks of each test and treatment against its internationally recognised criteria before making a recommendation on their introduction.

Health Visitors

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many health visitors were employed in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: The table below shows the number of full time equivalent health visitors employed in England at the mid-point in each year from 2011 to 2014, and the latest available figure in 2015. Data from 2012 onwards is taken from the Health Visitor Minimum Data Set (HV-MDS) which commenced in April 2012 and also includes data for health visitors employed by organisations that do not use Electronic Staff record (ESR) but do provide NHS-funded services, such as local authorities.   Full time equivalent figures are used as this is the most accurate measure of service capacity.   30 September 2011 130 September 2012 230 September 201330 September 201431 May 20157,9418,6789,55010,80011,850   Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre NHS Hospital and Community health service monthly workforce statistics   Notes: 1. The data for 2011 covers only those health visitors on the ESR. 2. The figure for September 2012 is different from the published figure due to a known over count (of 14).

Mental Health Services: East of England

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people from within Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust region have been required to travel outside their trust areas to receive emergency mental health treatment in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The information is not available in the format requested.

Diabetes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the trends in the prevalence of diabetes; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of diabetes; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Diagnosed diabetes prevalence is taken from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and represents all patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes and included on GP registers.   Diabetes prevalence is increasing. Diagnosed diabetes prevalence has increased from 2.3 million (5.3%) in 2009/10 to 2.8 million (6.2%) in 2013/14; an increase of nearly half a million people.   Public Health England’s diabetes prevalence model estimates total diabetes prevalence for England and for all local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in England. The model reflects the prevalence of diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed) and adjusts for the age, sex, ethnic group and deprivation pattern of the local population.   The estimated total diabetes prevalence using the diabetes prevalence model is 7.5% in 2014.   If current trends continue then we estimate that by 2030 there will be over 4 million people with diabetes. This represents 8.8% of the population aged 16 years and over.   This data is publically available on the Healthier Lives website at:   http://healthierlives.phe.org.uk/topic/diabetes   The website also provides diagnosed prevalence at the CCG level.   Tackling diabetes is of great concern to this Government. Building on the National Diabetes Prevention Programme, the Department is developing its plans to improve outcomes for those at risk of and with diabetes. These will be announced in due course.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of nurses not born in the EU employed by the NHS in England in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: Information on the country of birth of National Health Service staff is not collected centrally.